Islamic History Podcast

Underestimating Ottoman capabilities, the British attempted to invade Mesopotamia with devastating consequences.

Ottoman-Armenian relations started to get really bad towards the end of the 19th century. But once the Great War started, they got even worse.

With Sharif Hussein's promising to rebel against the Ottomans, the British and French have plans of their own. Mark Sykes and Francois Georges-Picot meet in London to discuss their vision of the future of the Middle East.

Sir Henry McMahon, British High Commission to Egypt, begins a deliberately vague series of letters with Sharif Hussein of Mecca.

The British have a problem as they can't keep their promises to Sharif Hussein and the French at the same time.

A mysterious individual named Al-Faruqi is feeding misleading information to Sharif Hussein and the British.

The British finally realize their Gallipoli campaign is futile and Winston Churchill takes the blame.

The Britain's Gallipoli campaign stalls while the Young Turks make some critical changes.

Sir Mark Sykes goes to work for the British War Office and buys into Kitchener's idea of an Arab Caliphate.

The British plan an invasion of Istanbul by attacking the Dardanelles Strait.